Hurricane Helene cancels TRAVELSAVERS Travel Market
Hurricane Helene is now barrelling towards Florida, packing winds that have upgraded its status from a tropical storm on Tuesday – when it was over Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula – to potentially a Category 4 hurricane as of Sept. 26.
Winds could reach 240 km/h.
Helene is forecast to cross Caribbean waters on a north-easterly track off the western coast of Florida, and the edges of the storm will start impacting that coast today. From there, the most destructive centre of the storm will continue moving north and is on course to hit the Big Bend region of the state (north-western Florida) on Friday before moving inland.
But on its way, the high winds and rain from the edges of the storm are projected to impact a wide swath of both coastal and inland regions. That includes Fort Myers and the nearby JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort, where the TRAVELSAVERS Travel Market was to be held, starting today.
Travel Market cancelled
Attendees got word on Tuesday evening, by emails and phone calls, that the Travel Market organizers had decided to cancel the event, ultimately prioritizing safety concerns and acknowledging that some airlines were cancelling flights to Florida airports like Fort Myers.
“After much careful consideration, we’ve made the very disappointing decision to postpone this year’s Travel Market conference,” said the message from the organizers.
“We know that many of you have been concerned about the weather coming to Florida on Thursday. Travel that day is already being disrupted, and with so many attendees expected to arrive then, we decided to postpone,” continued the message. “We are so incredibly thankful for our Travel Market community and so very disappointed that we will not be seeing you in a couple of days.”
More than 800 people were registered to participate in Travel Market.
Symposium continues
The message also confirmed that the first part of the agenda – the Affluent Traveler Collection Symposium – would go ahead as planned. It took place on Wednesday, with a full day of workshops and a general session on the agenda, and then was quickly expanded to include Thursday, with more sessions and networking planned.
And “a revamped Thursday dinner and festive evening experience are now slated,” said the statement by organizers of the Affluent Traveler Collection Symposium. There are 270 attendees at the Symposium, including 175 travel advisors, 55 supplier partners and 40 staff.
Replacement event coming 2025
The final bit of news shared by the TRAVELSAVERS organizers was that a replacement event would be scheduled for 2025. While no date was specified, they said that they would be excited to share details about next year’s event soon.
“We will be moving forward with the event next year,” said Betsy Goldberg, the senior corporate communications director for TRAVELSAVERS. “We’re thrilled to connect with our family then for an incredible event full of networking, learning, celebration and fun.”
